Chicken Enchiladas

Dear Ash,

Thank you for making such a delicious dinner last night. I really appreciate it. You are such a good cook.

You made a green chicken enchilada. Kind of like this one that you made back in May. It's a good thing you're pregnant right now or you wouldnt have been craving these extra ingredients. I've capitalized the important parts, the parts you wouldn't automatically add if you were just winging a green enchilada. Dont forget or overlook these ingredients.

Love you girlfriend. You're doing a fantastic job. Keep up the good work. You can do this. Have two babies. And not get crabby. Love Ash

Saute 1/2 onion, 3 CLOVES OF GARLIC, 1/2 chopped green pepper, a good pinch of coarse salt and pepper in olive oil. After a few minutes add 1/2 t. BROWN SUGAR, 1 small diced TOMATO and THICK pieces of shredded chicken cook for another 2 minutes. Turn off heat and add 2 T of diced PICKLED pepperoncini peppers, chopped green onion and fresh cilantro. Roll this mixture up into tortillas, lay in casserole dish. Mix sour cream with green salsa, about half and half. pour it on top. And then sprinkle on QUITE A BIT of jack cheese. I think you used 3/4 of a small block. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Broil to brown top.

Honey Lime Enchiladas

Cooking is a little different with a newborn running around. Some things burn and others are under cooked. Then these cute and easy enchiladas came along. Super quick with a really neat balance of sweet and spicy. I used one of those BBQ chickens you buy at the grocery store and shredded it and soaked it in the marinade. This is a twisted version of My Kitchen Cafe's recipe here. I added veggies and beans and a few extra spices. De-lish.

4 Large Tortillas
1/2 cup Sour cream
1/2 cup Salsa Verde

1 Cup Montery Jack

2 Cups shredded chicken

MARINADE:
6 T. Honey
Juice of 2 limes
1 t. Dry corriander
1 t. cumin
2 T. Chilli powder
2 Chopped garlic cloves (Or Mel uses garlic powder)

1 Sliced green pepper
1/2 Sliced onion
1 Can white beans
1 t. Salt
1 t. pepper

Marinate chicken in above ingredients(Or dont and just coat it). Saute peppers, onions in oil with salt and pepper. Add beans. Wrap inside tortillas. Lay in casserole dish. Mix Salsa Verde with Sour Cream(Use more sour cream if your wimpy with spice) Pour on top. Layer with Cheese. Bake for 1/2 an hour at 350. Makes 4-6 servings.

Photos:Shawn Campbell

Chicken With Peanut Salsa

Could this be my signature dish? Thats what I asked myself over and over again last night when I should have been sleeping.

I've been researching peanut salsa for days now. While compiling my final ingredient list this morning I thought I started to feel a little bit of a contraction. I wasn't ready to go into labour. I was determined to make this salsa and feed it to somebody. So I quickly got dressed, grabbed my list, and ran/waddled to the grocery store. It turned out to be a false alarm. Not only was I able to make the dish, I was able to eat it too!! Now, I think I'm ready for labour...until I get obsessed with my next recipe idea.

-5 Chicken drum sticks
-1 1/2 cups unsalted peanuts
-1 roasted red pepper
-1 onion
-4 garlic cloves
-2 Chipotles in adobo
-4 T. Adobo
-1 T. smoked paprika
-1/4 t. cinnamon(Optional)
-1 T. tomato paste
-1/8 t. ground clove
-Juice of one lime
-Juice of one lemon
-About 2 cups chicken broth

Roast peanuts in pan, throw into food processor or blender.
Dice and saute onion and garlic in same pan. Add to processor.
Dice roasted red pepper and add to processor with chipotle, adobo, paprika, cinnamon, clove, tomato paste, citrus juice and chicken stock. Keep adding chicken stock until the consistency is liquidy and saucy rather than pasty.

Brown and crisp drum sticks in onion and garlic pan. Toast with salt and pepper.

Add just enough peanut salsa to coat chicken and a bit for the bottom of the pan and bake until chicken completely cooked. (NEXT TIME I WILL KEEP IT IN THE PAN AND FRY RATHER THAN BAKE TO KEEP THE CHICKEN CRISPY)

I served this with baked cilantro tomatoes and couscous.

Photos:Shawn Campbell

Mexican Lettuce Wrap

Like the Asian Lettuce Wrap we want to incorporate a super flavourful meat/vegetable mixture with a slightly crispy texture. We replaced noodles with baked torilla strips and topped it with hot sauce, cheese and a sour cream mixture. Then wrapped it up into a crispy coat of lettuce.

Sour Cream Mixture:
1 Cup sour cream
1 t. Chili powder
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 t. Sugar
Cilantro to taste(Optional)

Ground beef
Cumin
Chilli powder
Cayenne pepper
Onion
Green pepper
Tomato
Jalapeno
2 tortillas
Cheese(Jack)
Hot sauce

-Slice tortillas very thin. Lay on baking sheet. Brush with oil. Bake for 10 minutes at 375.
-Brown Ground beef. Add cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. Cook with onion, green pepper, tomato and jalapeno.
-Fill lettuce with beef filling. Top with sour cream mixture, hot sauce, cheese and crunchy tortilla strips. Wrap up nice and tight and enjoy!

Photos:Shawn Campbell

Mexican Chicken Pockets

Have you ever been to My Kitchen Cafe? Well, if not you should go. Today I needed a recipe that would be quick cuz I wasn't getting home from work til late and I was tired. Thats where I got this idea, which I changed a bit to suit my ingredient list. I had quite a bit of filling left over so I made burritos out of it, rolled tightly in saran wrap and put them in the freezer for work lunches. But the fried pocket version follows.

Cooked brown rice
Shredded Chicken
Refried beans
Cream cheese
Green onion
Cilantro
Lime juice
Chili powder
Cumin
Cheese
Sour cream
Tortillas

Mix rice with everything except beans, cheese and sour cream.
Heat tortillas in microwave until soft so they dont rip when you fold the pockets.
Spread cream cheese in middle of tortilla along with refried beans and a layer of cheese.
Fill with chicken and rice mixture.
Fold into a pocket square thing and fry in lightly oiled pan. (Use a bit of the refried bean as a glue to keep the pocket closed until it fried shut)

Source:My Kitchen Cafe

Photos:Shawn Campbell

Mexican Chicken

I've adapted this recipe from Andrea The Kitchen Witches Cream Cheese Salsa Chicken recipe. I added red pepper and onion sauteed with cumin, cayenne, and kosher salt. I served it with warmed black beans with melted cheese and fresh green onion. It would have been perfect if I weren't on the phone and BURNED my brown rice. BLACK. AND SMOKEY. Ruined my pot. I would be more generous with the cream cheese next time as I only added a few thin slices and found it to be not enough. I also would add fresh cilantro as a finishing touch. All in all, it was a super quick and easy meal, which I love on Mondays after a long day of work. Thanks Andrea!!

1T. Olive oil
1/2 Onion(Chopped)
1 Whole red pepper
1/2 t. Kosher salt
1/2 t. Cumin
Dash of cayenne pepper

-Saute over medium high heat until just softening.
-2 Chicken breast
-4 T. Cream cheese
-3/4 Cup salsa

-Push to the side and brown 2 chicken breast on each side.
-Spread cream cheese onto each breast.
-Pour salsa into pan with veggies surrounding chicken.
-Put whole thing into oven and bake for 20.

Photos:Shawn Campbell